Aerobatic jet team added to 2015 Abbotsford International Airshow lineup

The Breitling Jet Team will perform at the 2015 Abbotsford International Airshow.

A major aerobatic jet team will fly their first Canadian performance at next year’s 2015 Abbotsford International Airshow.

The Breitling Jet Team, a seven-plane civilian jet team, has been added to the lineup for the airshow, which runs Aug. 7 to 9, organizers announced Tuesday.

The team, based in Dijon, France, will do a 2015 North American Tour including two Canadian stops.

Organizers say they are are excited to build on the success of the 2014 airshow. “Our patrons will get to see two of the World’s finest jet teams in one venue, with both the Canadian Forces Snowbirds and Breitling Jet Teams set to perform in 2015,” said airshow president Jim Reith. “Abbotsford is always proud to be the venue for first-time Canadian appearances by international performers.”

The Breitling Jet Team was created by Breitling, a major Swiss watchmaker, and will be flying fast and powerful L-39C Albatros aircraft. Organizers say the show will be “a meticulously co-ordinated ballet in which planes sometimes fly within three meters of each other, at speeds of over 700 km/h” and fly “a rapid-fire succession of figures that are perfectly calculated, mastered, synchronized and fine-tuned down to the smallest details.”